Vengeance (2006)
Vengeance (2006) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE for Extreme (WWEFE or just WWE), which took place on June 25, 2006 at the Charlotte Bobcats Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was the sixth annual Vengeance event. Eight professional wrestling matches were featured on the event's card. The buildup to the matches and the scenarios that took place before, during, and after the event were planned by WWE's script writers. The event starred wrestlers from the RAW brand: a storyline expansion of the promotion where employees are assigned to a wrestling brand under the WWE banner. The main event was a Triple Threat match, a match consisting of three wrestlers witht he first to score pinfall or submission winning the match, between Raven Triple H and Edge for the WWE Championship. In this match, Triple H won the match after pinning Raven, following a Pedigree through a chair and table. Two bouts were featured on the undercard. In another Triple Threat match, Ashley Massaro defeated Looney Lane and Franki to win the WWE Women's Championship. And D-Generation X (Shawn Michaels and Jeff Hardy) defeated Team Canada (Chris Hunter and Christian Cage) in an inter-brand tag team match. Vengeance grossed over $400,000 in ticket sales from an attendance of 6,800 and received 320,000 pay-per-view buys, which helped WWE increase its pay-per-view revenue by $21.6 million compared to the previous year. When the event was released on DVD, it reached the number one position on Billboard's DVD Sales Chart. The professional wrestling section of the Canadian Online Explorer website rated the entire event a 6.5 out 10 stars, higher than the 2005 event rating of 6 out 10. Background The event featured three professional wrestling matches with different wrestlers involved in pre-existing scripted feuds, plots and storylines. Wrestlers were portrayed as either villains or fan favorites as they followed a series of tension-building events, which culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. All wrestlers belonged to the RAW brand – a storyline division in which WWE assigned its employees to a different program, the other two being SmackDown! and ECW. (Shawn Michaels and Jeff Hardy) who faced off against Team Canada at Vengeance]] The main event scripted into Vengeance was between Raven, Triple H and Edge over the WWE Championship. The buildup to the match began after Backlash, RAW's previous pay-per-view event, where Randy Orton had defended the championship successfully against Edge and John Cena. That same night, Raven defeated Christian Cage to earn a championship opportunity, which he used to wint he title on the following episode of RAW. Orton began feuding with D-Generation X, specifically Triple H, over who would face Raven at Vengeance. Triple H prevailed, while Edge earned a contendership as well, making it a Triple Threat match, where all three wrestlers would be in the ring at the same time with the first to score a pinfall or submission winning the match. One of the featured matches was between Looney Lane versus Ashley Massaro and Franki in a Triple Threat match for the WWE Women's Championship. Massaro had entered a feud with Franki as both Divas had debuted at the same time. Both wanted to make an impression, leading to them competing in a number of matches on RAW prior to the event. Both Divas were declared contenders for the Women's Championship, leading to them both challenging Lane at the event. The other featured match was between D-Generation X members Shawn Michaels and Jeff Hardy and ECW's Team Canada (Christian Cage and Chris Hunter). The rivalry began when both teams made claims to being the most dominate stable inthe company, leading to an inter-brand match at the event. Event Before the event went live on pay-per-view, Alex Ash defeated Bryan Danielson in a dark match. Preliminary matches The first televised match was a tag team match between D-Genration X (Shawn Michaels and Jeff Hardy) and Team Canada (Christian Cage and Chris Hunter). The teams began fighting before the bell even rang, but eventually things settled down as Cage and Michaels started the match. HBK backed Cage into a corner, but his clean break was rewarded with a thumb to the eye by his opponent. Cage taunted Michaels before hitting him with a swinging neckbreaker and then choking the life out of him. After keeping Michaels from making the tag, Cage tagged his fellow Canadian Chris Hunter in. Both men suplexed the Heartbreak Kid before Hunter went for an unsuccessful pin. Shawn Michaels began to fight back at this point, throwing Hunter off the ropes and catching him with a flying forearm smash. With the momentum once again with D-X, Michaels tagged in Jeff Hardy. Hardy came in with repeated clotheslines to the stunned Chris Hunter, followed by a spinning mule kick. Hardy continued the assault, but the crafty Canadian regained the advantage with a thumb to the eye. He tagged in Christian, who began to work over the midsection of Hardy. However, Hardy managed to counter a whip and threw Cage to the outside of the ring. While Hunter checked on his partner, both members of D-Generation X hit a plancha on the outside. Hardy, however, ran into the barricade on his way out and busted himself open. With Hardy taken out by his own move, Team Canada proceeded to double-team Michaels. Jeff eventually made it to his feet and took Cage out with a clothesline, while the Heartbreak Kid delivered Sweet Chin Music to Hunter. D-X rolled the prone Christian into the ring, with Hardy hitting the Twist of Fate. As Michaels prepared to deliver the Sweet Chin Music to Cage, Hunter got up on the apron. He was rewarded with his second Sweet Chin Music, before a third was delivered to a recovering Cage. Both men then climbed the turnbuckle, as Michaels delivered a diving elbow drop and Hardy the Swanton Bomb. Hunter was kept at bay with the fourth Sweet Chin Music of the night as Hardy pinned Cage to win the match. against Looney Lane and Ashley Massaro.]] The second match on the undercard was a Triple Threat match for the WWE Women's Championship which saw champion Looney Lane defend against Franki and Ashley Massaro. The match began with an over-zealous Franki charging Ashley, who dodged and sent Franki sailing through the ropes to the outside. Alone with the champion, Ashley slapped Lane hard, only to receive a straight right hand from the champion. Both women began exchanging blows, while on the outside Franki recovered from her fall. However, both Lane and Ashley turned their attention to Franki an dealt her twin right hands, knocking Franki into a corner. Looney Lane then whipped Ashley to the opposite corner and clotheslined Franki. She then charged Ashley, but the Hardcore Diva dodged and Lane bounced off the protective padding. At this point Ashley turned her attention to Franki, dealing the young woman a series of blows before pulling her atop the turnbuckle for a possible superplex. Franki managed to shove Ashley off before hitting a missile dropkick on the recovering Lane. Franki went for a pin but the champion kicked out, causing a visible distraught Franki to slam Lane’s head into the mat repeatedly. Franki then attacked the recovering Ashley with a kick to the hamstring, continuing to stomp away at the leg of the other challenger. Turning her attention back to the champion, Franki walked right into a hard clothesline, followed by another. Lane then connected with the Looneycanrana, but Ashley broke up the pin just in time. Ashley then began an assault on the champion, but found herself caught in a possible Sidewalk Slam. She countered into a headscissors takedown, followed by a hurricanrana with a pin. Lane kicked out, and Ashley went for a right hand. Lane blocked and went for one of her own, but Ashley ducked and slid behind the champion, catching her in a springboard bulldog, or Stratusfaction. She followed up with the Star Struck elbow drop to the Looney One, hooking a leg to secure a three-count and the Women’s Championship. Main event match , who competed in the Triple Threat match for the WWE Championship at Vengeance]] The main event match saw WWE Champion Raven versus challengers Edge and Triple H in a Triple Threat match for the title. Raven began the match prematurely, attacking Edge during his entrance. After hitting Edge with a DDT on the metal stage, the WWE Champion threw him off the stage and into a pile of tables. He then headed to the ring to await Triple H while Edge was put on a stretcher and carried from the ring. After a brief stand-off, Raven ducked a big boot from the challenger in order to catch Triple H with a legsweep. After stomping away at The Game, Raven took his opponent to the mat again with a clothesline. Raven once again stomped away at Triple H before kicking him hard in the back of the head. However, the momentum shifted into Triple H’s favor when The Game rolled out of the way of a diving elbow from the champion. Triple H began the assault by whipping his opponent into a corner and driving his shoulder the abdomen of Raven. The champion was then whipped back into the corner and hit with the ten punches. Triple H then took a moment to show off for the fans, but it cost him as Raven dropkicked him out of the ring. Raven followed him with a suicide dive, taking a lot out of both men. Raven was up first, and went to gather a table. Triple H cut him off with a double axe-handle, however, and proceeded to stomp away at the champion. He then pulled the table the rest of the way out, also pulling a ladder out from under the ring. A recovered Raven hit Triple H with a stiff kick, with the WWE champion throwing the ladder into the ring. He then set the table up, narrowly avoiding an attack from The Game. Raven retreated back between the ropes, while Triple H tossed a table and chair into the ring before entering himself with a sledgehammer in hand. Raven attempted to utilize the chair, but Triple H smashed through it with the sledgehammer. After laying Raven out with the weapon, Triple H set up the table and tossed the limp Raven onto it. He slid the chair between the two before climbing aboard and hitting Raven with the Pedigree, through the chair and the table. After that it was academic as the leader of D-Generation X pinned Raven to secure the WWE championship. Aftermath (Under construction) Reception The Charlotte Bobcats Arena usually can accommodate 20,000, but the capacity was reduced for the event. This event grossed over $400,000 from an approximate attendance of 6,800 – the maximum allowed. It also received 320,000 pay-per-view buys. Vengeance helped WWE earn $21.6 million in revenue from pay-per-view events versus $19.9 million the previous year, which was later confirmed by Linda McMahon, the CEO of WWE, on August 31, 2006 in a quarterly result. Canadian Online Explorer's professional wrestling section rated the event 6.5 out of 10. The rating was higher than the Vengeance 2005 event which was rated 6 out 10. The WWE title match was rated an 8 out of 10. Additionally, the other two matches were both rated a 5 out 10. The event was released on DVD on July 25, 2006. The DVD was distributed by the label Sony Music Entertainment. The DVD ranked number one on Billboard's DVD Sales Chart for recreational sports during the week of August 19, 2006, although falling thereafter. It remained in the chart for three months, until the week of November 4, 2006, when it ranked 17th. Results Category:Pay-Per-View Events Category:Night of Champions Category:WWE for Extreme Category:Articles in need of expansion